The loneliness of the long distance Newcastle fans

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You have the Bundesliga, Premier League and La Liga, then the…Championship and Serie A fighting it out.

Yes, the Championship, English football’s second tier, gets more paying customers than nearly ever other football league in Europe and beyond.

This season Newcastle United are averaging fifty thousand crowds and another six pull in twenty four thousand or more at home, which begs the question….

Why do so many Newcastle fans find it so hard to keep in touch with what’s happening on and off the pitch this season at St James Park?

Obviously The Mag ticks many boxes, hopefully…but when it comes to the establishment, dropping into the second tier is like falling through a trapdoor when it comes to visibility.

For long distance fans especially, the advent of technology and worldwide TV deals, had made watching Newcastle United in the Premier League so much more accessible.

Long gone were the days of waiting for your grannie to mail The Pink out by steamship, Newcastle fans became spoilt as they watched every game on internet feeds, in bars, or on free/subscription channels in whichever country they found themselves.

This season has been a rude awakening for so many, as apart from the handful of matches that Sky Sports select, everything else is pretty much invisible and that is also pretty much reflected in the media coverage on matchdays and in between games.

Just because there might be fifty two thousand turning up at St James Park, if you aren’t in the Premier League you are nobody.

It would appear common sense that when you have a league attracting so many match-going fans and with so many massive/famous/large clubs such as Newcastle, Villa, Leeds, Wolves, Forest, Norwich, Derby, Sheffield Wednesday and the rest – the demand for more live TV and general media coverage must be there.

We all hope Newcastle don’t ever find themselves in the position of famous old clubs such as Leeds and Wolves – because if you are in exile just how do you brainwash the next generation of supporters, when it is Hull, Burnley and Bournemouth that is their daily diet?

About the author

Jim Robertson

Staff Writer - We don't ask for much, a few decent players and some entertainment, plus a club that looks to do its best by everybody - including the fans.